Dave (Baruchel) is just an average college student, or so it appears, until the sorcerer Balthazar Blake (Cage) recruits him as his reluctant protégé and gives him a crash course in the art and science of magic. Blake is a master sorcerer living in modern-day Manhattan trying to defend the city from his arch-nemesis, Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina). As these unlikely partners work to stop the forces of darkness in modern-day Manhattan, Dave finds it is going to take all of the courage he can muster to survive his training, save the city and get the girl as he becomes The Sorcerer's Apprentice.